Serellia (Everlasting Legends, Book 2)

Ch. 14 - Exiles Without

Journal Entry - Obtoxicullous

'Forever condemned to exile is the outcast who is consigned by their own hand. For no pity should be spared on those who pick their own path—These are the words of those who put up the gates and fences.'

This passage has resonated with me for most of my life, as it exquisitely illustrates one point; that the laws and rules of the world are, by design, only there to benefit the few, while professing to benefit the many. But what of Serellia then? How has a country that has more bears than people, managed to exist so peacefully alongside a country like Lorellia, which long ago drove such creatures out of their lands? Surely, there have been many impressive military attempts made to capture the wild north. Serellia is, after all, rich in ore and the rare Ironbark forests that, alone, would move any Lorellian noble to find just cause to take it and see his purse filled for doing so.

Indeed, I could blindly pick any Lorellian town or city and rest assured that the odds were in my favor of it holding more inhabitants than a Serellian one picked out in the same random manner. Why then, has Serellia remained sovereign?

As with anything, the answer is complex, and many folds pleat the fabric of this answer. First, is the weather. The north has only a very short mild summer, framed by fleeting falls and springs, and for the rest of the year, it is held in the tightest grasp of winter. While the season arrives in Lorellia as well, it is not nearly as harsh or prolonged. Serellians spend all the rest of the year preparing for the first blizzard that closes the passes to the northern towns and cities. They stockpile food and resources that they will need when snowed in for weeks or months on end. Those without this ability must move to the southern towns, or catch boats to other countries before the seaways are iced over. All of this means that any invading force would only have a short window of suitable weather for fighting and traveling before they, too, would be subjected to harsh freeze. Supplies and shelter would be costly and difficult to transport, but without them, they would suffer heavy casualties or be forced to retreat.

Then there are the wilds, where not only are there long, grueling winters to contend with, but dire bears and dire wolves; mammoths, saber elk, and the cunning spider folk, or "Utsi" as they call themselves. And above all else, the north is still home to dragons.

Serellia has long been a place of refuge for those creatures run out of Lorellia. Not by choice, but certainly by the marginal disregard for their arrival. It was how the Silent Slough even came into being. Certainly, no Serellian welcomed in all the dark things that reside there now, but they found homes in the frigid swamps and were allowed to flourish in relative safety, as long as they remained out of sight. But I think that the old kings of Serellia were never completely ignorant of what lay in the Slough. They knew what lurked out there in the shadows of their kingdom, and they felt pity for any invading army that stumbled on them unwittingly... For those nightmares would fight more ruthlessly than any human army.

This is why I took such a shine to the Slough... My own small kingdom within a kingdom, and though no official title was ever recognized or sealed, it is mine all the same. Its subjects are ruled by no laws save for that of the natural order of things. You either survive, or you do not...

***

Ardaik 15th - Tulot, Serellia

It wasn't until Artus had gotten to the second floor that he realized he wasn't quite sure what room to find the marquis in. He did, however, spot a familiar face on the opposite end of the south gallery. Captain Spar was speaking with two other guards, one of whom spotted Artus, and tipped his head toward him. Spar followed his comrade's tell, setting eyes on Artus, and saying something to the other two guards before heading in his direction.